As I was reading through some Scripture I came to a thought about salvation.

Calvinism believes in the election of souls for salvation. We do nothing for our salvation but rather God choses and saves those whom he decides to save. With such a system of salvation and thus eternal security, it makes sense that many calvinist-based ministries place great emphasis in getting the non-believer to come to salvation yet tend to be weak on the follow-up towards discipleship, because the goal of calvinist evangelism is to get that commitment for Christ on the basis that once a person has become a believer, he will be eternally secure no matter what he does with his life afterwards.

This seems fairly logical and satisfies a desire for security yet that is just the problem. Are we trying to understand God’s plan for our comfort of mind in a system that logically makes sense to us? Or are we trying to understand how God works as he has revealed himself in scripture?

Inconsistencies seem to arise when we adopt such a logically pleasing doctrine, as Scripture seems to suggest election as well as a universal love that allows for free will. Is Arminianism right? or is Calvinism right? Scripture shows evidence for both in action, and to claim that one is right at the exclusion of the other seems rather presumptuous, arrogant, and creates inconsistency in the understanding of Scripture.

One such inconsistency deals with the saving power of Christ’s death. Scripture tells us that Christ died for all, yet Calvinist theology tells us this cant be so. The assumption is that if Christ died for all then all should go to heaven. Yet people still deny Christ and go to hell. If Christ died for all and people still go to hell, then his saving power is ineffective. The Calvinist conclusion is that Christ only died for those who are elect. In this way Christ’s death was 100% effective for those whom he died for.

The inconsistency with this theology is that while according to their definition, Christ’s power is effective for whom it was meant, it is now limited. It is as if to say that Christ could not save everyone, so he chose to save those he could save. While trying to save one limitation, Calvinist theology in effect creates another. If I were to say that I can beat everyone at a game of cards and yet I only played against 8 year-olds, then yes, given that I only play against 8 year-olds I can beat everyone I play against. However it is quite obvious that my ability at cards is very much limited in skill.

1 John 2:2 says, “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

There is nothing limiting or ambiguous about “holos kosmos” (whole world) that could possibly make it mean “whole world of only those he chose to save”. The normal reading and understanding of the phrase is simply the “whole world”, everyone, chosen or not, no exceptions, all. Christ’s power has given the potential for all to be saved if we but respond to His saving grace.

Instead of asking, “are you an Arminianist?” or, “are you a Calvinist?”, maybe we should stop blindly following human figures or popular books and programs, and instead look at what Scripture actually says and follow Jesus Christ.

Before we begin to say, “Calvin said…” or “Mother Teresa said…” or “This book says…”, maybe we shoudl stop, see what Scripture has to say about it, and find out what God has to say about it.

NAU Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

questions:
- have the parents of wayward children failed in their training?
- will the wayward child always return to the Lord someday?

Obviously the answer to these questions is “No.” Despite the parents efforts, their children may go astray. And maybe the wayward child will never return to God.

Just about any Christian would agree that to take this scripture to be an absolute promise and rule that children raised properly will NEVER stray from God, or that children who do stray will ALWAYS return to God, would be foolish and not in keeping with the continuity of Scripture as a whole. It would be illogical, irresponsible and foolish to read such absolute promises into scripture where such promises and rules do not truly exist.

Despite the seemingly absolute nature of the statement being made in Scripture, it must be understood within the context of the whole of Scripture. The fact that Scripture uses generalities, hyperbolies, figures of speech, understatements and overstatements, does not in any way detract from the truth of scripture, nor does it create contradictions. The only contradictions that exist are in our incorrect, legalistic, or absolute interpretations which read into scripture what does not belong there.

Take Proverbs 22:6 for example. Most Christians would agree that it would be foolish to read such promises of security for the child based on the parents ability to raise them. Yet, as foolish as this seems in this one example, it seems that we as Christians do this all over the place in scripture. We make absolute promises and rules based on our theological views, preferences, and desires where in reality they do not exist in Scripture.

Calvinist theology attempts to interpret as many passages as it can to guarantee eternal security, while glossing over others. A few cornerstone passages are always pointed to when any other scripture that might suggest otherwise is brought up. The desire is to know one’s eternal security, and so a theology is created that reads much like the following: “Once a person comes to faith and says the right prayer and does his single baptism he will always be secure in his salvation even if he turns away from God because God knows he will come back to him eventually. If he doesnt turn back and instead goes to hell then he wasnt really a christian to begin with and wasnt entitled to the promise.”

The same thing happens in Prosperity Theology. However it happens in regards to immediate worldly aspects of health and wealth rather than eternal promises of salvation. The promise here is seen as follows: “If I give enough money to God and have enough faith in God, then God will reward me and must reward me with good health and lost of wealth.”
so with that I ask:

What promises do we read into scripture that might not actually be there simply because it makes us feel better, or because that is what we want to hear?

I am fairly convinced that God is more concerned with my spiritual life than my physical life. My spirit will continue, but my body will fade away. My body continues to deteriorate and will eventually die and return to the earth no matter how I pray, but my soul will live on into eternity. Will God answer prayers that may deliver me from physical illness or pain? He can, but if there is something greater for me to learn through it, or if there is a purpose or reason in God’s wisdom that I may never know nor see the effects of, then perhaps He wont. It would be supremely foolish and arrogant of me to believe that God must heal me and deliver me from any illness or pain because of an immature and incorrect reading of Scripture that forces God to be subject to any human understanding of the promises interpreted out of Scripture. Perhaps this view may seem somewhat pessimistic and hopeless, but it only seems so if one places the value of life on the circumstantial and superficial physical conveniences of such existance. When one finds the value of life in the spiritual, the character of the soul, and the sovereignty and Glory of God, then one ceases to focus on what is selfishly convenient and desired, and instead focuses on that which truly matters with hope into the eternal.

It seems like those who cry loudest for the freedom of whatever group they support while calling everyone else ignorant and narrow-minded are in actuality saying that people only have the freedom to believe what they want as long as it agrees with them. If anyone dare to believe anything different they will instantly be labeled as ignorant and narrow-minded, because the liberal concept of freedom has nothing to do with the actual freedom of belief, or equality for that matter. The liberal practice of freedom is like a selfish little child whose world view cannot and does not extend beyond the sphere of his own immediate and experiential desires. The child’s world defines all self-interest as a necessity regardless of the impracticality of what it may be or the inconvenience or expense it may cost to others. Such is the practice of freedom by those who cry for the freedom and rights of their group while ignoring others, and even at the expense of others, while calling all who disagree with  them ignorant, narrow-minded fundamentalists. So who is really ignorant and narrowminded and perhaps even bigotted?

To hide under the guise of freedom when really self-interest is the true motivation is cheap and without honor. If freedom of belief were truly the heart of the matter than those who cry for freedom of belief have no right to turn around and complain against those who believe differently than they do. That is like telling someone they are free to chose whatever color they want from any of the possible colors as long as its fire engine red. Of course this makes no sense at all, but this is how liberal freedom seems to work in practice.

I have entered the magical world of Twitter combined with pictures. Its a cool way to update facebook at home or on the move with corresponding photos so that others may see what I am seeing. It also updates facebook with this status and link to the photo which is pretty nifty and there is a simple though semi-crude widget to embed into websites however, the only problem is that while nifty twitter photo apps exist for the iPhone and Windows Mobile based smart phones, no one seems to have made an app for Palm OS based phones such as the Palm Centro. So I’ve embarked on a little adventure to get it working fairly well. So far the easiest and most reliable combination is Twitter with Twitxr, using an actual email client such as versamail to send in the twitter with photo updates. Using Picturemail simply results in an annoying “You have received a Picturemail” type status update on Twitter and Facebook.

9/11/2001 - It is a day to remember, to never forget, and to cause us to question what is truly important. On this day innocent civilians died, and ordinary people showed their courage as heroes in the carnage of the attacks. Today our soldiers continue to fight for freedom, risking their lives on the front lines for the hope of freedom. You might not agree with the political decisions or policies of leaders and politicians, but NEVER question the heart of those who are willing to risk their lives so that you and others will have the freedom to believe what you want. Your freedom to voice your opinions come at a cost, and as long as there are evil people who believe in slaughtering innocent civilians, killing their own police forces to destroy order so that their terrorist regime will regain control, brain washing their children to want to be suicide bombers, or who seek their self-interests at any cost without moral or ethical concern, the world will continue to need the hearts and lives of those who risk it all to protect freedom. Question the politicians if you must, but never question the heart of the soldier. Remember those who have died, those who were heroes, and those who continue to risk their lives in the hope of a better world.

I just compiled my first cd of my original music all written, performed and recorded by me. Yay! The CD has 9 songs each performed with different combinations of guitars and effects. Some songs contain an additional bass guitar layer also performed by me. I dont really have any fancy software that lets me sunthesize any tracks, so pretty much everything is me on a mic and playing my various guitars either direct or through a mic’ed amp. The songs can be found at JesusCrash.com.

Doctor Who. Its the longest running SciFi TV show in history.

It is a cult classic and pop-cuture at its finest.

And its the source of many cool things such as this very neato powered usb 4-port hub with phasing light and materialisation/dematerialisation sound efects:

Its available at Thinkgeek.com along with other very cool Doctor Who products.

Sometimes I wonder if Christians who want to defend people from the evils in the media of the world, are not in themselves the ones creating such evil. It makes me wonder where the evil really is, if Christians are finding evil meanings in even the most mundane or ordinary of things.

Recently I heard of a Christian elementary school that taught the students that the Song “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul, and Mary was a song about smoking. Really? I thought it was a simple song about the growing up of children and the imaginary friends and things they leave behind in their youth.

Origin of Song

Originally the lyrics to this wonderful song were written by a young man named Leonard Lipton. He was inspired after reading the poem by Ogden Nash titled: Tale of Custard the Dragon, to write a poem/lyrics of his own. Custard the Dragon was about a fierce looking dragon that was really quite cowardly until a pirate came and broke into his master’s house, it was then he courageously protected the house before lapsing back into his cowardice.

Lipton wrote the most of what is now Puff the Magic Dragon with the intent on it being innocent. It was supposed to a tale of boyhood and how “little boys” grow up and childhood fantasies fade away as they age.

Leonard left his poem in the hands of Peter Yarrow, who made some revisions and turned it into lyrics. The group Peter, Paul, & Mary made it a popular and well known song.

You can find a video statement of Peter from Peter, Paul, and Mary, live in front of an audience on YouTube in which he states the actual meaning of the song as the loss of children’s innocence as they grow up in contrast to the unfortunate misinterpretations of drug referencing.

Scripture calls us to forgive. It also calls us to be wise in whom we trust and how much trust we place in people. Scripture calls us to be accountable and to call our brothers into account for their actions, yet it also calls us to let them go, and to release them down their destructive paths when they refuse to receive guidance.

 At what point do you stop trusting someone? Too often people within the church confuse trust with forgiveness. They use them interchangeably as if to create the ultimate excuse system. If trust were to be blind and given universally as is forgiveness, then they are free to live irresponsibly and wrecklessly. They can continue to wrong and hurt the people around them because in their minds they have equated trust to forgiveness. The people they hurt have to forgive them and therefore trust them and this creates a system that enables irresponsibility and selfishness. Rather than focusing on the cause of the problems the attention is instead shifted onto those who are to forgive.

 At what point do you release someone to go down their path of destruction? No amount of patience or love can turn these people from their hurtful, selfish, and bitter ways. Whether it be love of money, adultery, selfishness or other forms of idolatry, they continue down their destructive path hurting those around them. At some point the responsibility to turn them from harm stops, and one must cease to enable them and release them to their own path. One can only hope that with a great fall will come realization into truth.

But where are these lines? Unfortunately it is not cut and dry. I believe it really lies in an open heart and mind to listen to God’s leading, and within one’s convictions as we try to live lives of integrity and righteousness..

“These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:5-8)

If health and wealth prosperity gospel is true, and its claims are true, why then do we not see people being raised from the dead? They proclaim that every Christian should be able to do miraculous signs of healing and the casting out of demons and raising from the dead, but if you look at their ministries they are far from showing any positive results of raising people from the dead. In fact it all seems to be empty claims. I bet if you approach them with an actual case, they wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole.

What causes this? Its interesting how the same set of scriptures that Christians universally claim to be true, result in so many different interpretations and understandings. In the case of health and wealth, the interpreting hermeneutic seems to be based on a need for control and authority. If you notice the hymn and praises of these people, its not so much about what God does, and about the character of God, but rather on the authority to do miraculous things that these people have because of God, or on the promises the people have because the nature of God mandates such promises. The shift is subtle, but it is there. It moves focus away from God, and places the focus on the people. Even when God is credited, it still seems to focus on what the people can do, and what promises the people have. God becomes the tool not the power. The people are no longer the tools of God’s power, but rather the wielder’s of God.

Let us examine the scripture above. This is a key scripture because believers in the health and wealth prosperity gospel use this as a proof text to show that every Christian must have the ability to heal, cast out demons and raise from the dead. If a Christian cannot do such things, then he is blamed for not having enough faith. But if we really examine the text we find 2 things:

1. The command to heal, cast out demons, and raise people from the dead is part of a 2 part command that cannot be separated.

a. If we are to take the one command to do such miraculous things, then we are to also take the 1st part of the command which tells us to only preach to the Jews. If such is the case, then why are any Gentiles Christian? According to this two part command, the only people to whom the gospel message should be preached to are the Jews.

2. The command to heal, cast out demons, and raise people from the dead is within the specific context of Jesus and the disciples.

a. The context of these commands is within the earthly ministry of Jesus. In Jesus was the kingdom of heaven, which is why the kingdom could be said to be near. It was because of this presence that the miracles were present in the ministry of Jesus and his disciples. The miracles were to proclaim this message, not for our benefit as a tool because God wants us to be healthy and wealthy as proclaimed by the prosperity gospel.

The context of this scripture has to be understood within its proper place. It was a command given by Jesus specifically to his 12 disciples to first reach the Jews. Only after such an attempt was made would the gospel then be taken to the Gentiles. The purpose of the miracles was specific to the ministry of Jesus and the disciples and was closely tied to the nearness of the kingdom of heaven present in Jesus.

This scripture in no way promises or mandates that every Christian should have the ability to heal, cast out demons or raise from the dead. Such an understanding is a gross misunderstanding of scripture out of its context. It would be as if a child asked for candy on a given day, and because his mommy said “yes”, he then understood it to mean that he could have as much candy as he wanted, whenever he wanted, where ever he wanted, and even his friends. Obviously we would laugh at such a childish misapplication of the situation, but then, why do we allow it with scripture?

Your friend approaches you with an issue concerning his wife. His wife has had a history of getting herself into emotionally adulterous relationships, and seems to exhibit a lack of control in this area. He is certain that she has started another such relationship with a man at his church. She has confessed to one of his friend’s wives that she has indeed been in an emotionally adulterous relationship with this man, though it has not reached the point of physical adultery. Apparently this is her excuse to continue the relationship and an attempt to justify it as being ok. Your friend has confronted this man on the issue, informing him of his negative influence on his already strained marriage, as well as requesting that this man stop giving his wife gifts, acts of service, and one-on-one spiritual and emotional support.

Unfortunately, the marriage has fallen apart, and this man continues to give gifts and acts of service, and other such close support to your friend’s wife, and the wife continues to seek the same despite her admitted emotionally adulterous relationship with this man and the failure of her marriage.

You know that you cannot control the actions of another person. You can only do what is right in your own actions and thoughts.

Should your friend confront the man for the sake of his integrity which by now has been destroyed?

Should your friend confront his wife for the sake of her integrity and possibly to restore his marriage?

Should your friend be satisfied knowing that he has done all he can possibly do, and that his wife and this man have both chosen to follow paths to destruction that he has no control over?

I said I would do it and I did. I climbed to the summit of Mount Shasta at 14,179 feet. I almost didn’t make it because of altitude sickness, but with the encourgement of my friends I made it. Some people might think Mount Shasta is an easy climb, which it might be if you climb at most seasons in which it has a nice crunchy, firm path of snow to effortlessly walk up, but if you go when there is no snow at all, the entire path will be nothing but sheer and loose skree. Every step could be 6 inches to 4 feet of backsliding as you go through the loose volcanic gravel at steep inclines. The chorus to Paul Simon’s song ‘Slip Sliding Away’ seems to fit so perfectly to a dry Shasta ascent. “Slip sliding away, slip sliding away. You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away” The climb was long and slow maybe even painful at times, but with my friends to encourage me, it was a journey worth taking. As I think about it, I wonder how much is this a reflection of life, and how often do we take for granted the importance of our friends and the supprt they offer as well as the support we offer to them. Life is a journey best taken with friends.

What do you do when a friend’s spouse that you do not know all too well decides to confess to you that they have been in an emotionally adulterous relationship? This confession is awkward to you because you do not know this person too well having primarily been friends with her husband. What makes it all the more perplexing is that this person, who has confessed of this emotionally adulterous relationship, has been repeatedly guilty of this problem with several men throughout the course of her marriage. Yet, this person constantly projects this guilt onto her husband and accuses him of having such affairs, while often normalizing and minimizing her own guilt, even misinterpreting scripture so as to excuse her own guilt. What do you say to this person?

Do you point out the adulterous affair they are having and advise them that they need to stop?

Do you point out the hypocrisy and advise her to stop judging her husband for the fears that she projects onto him that have been generated out of her own guilt?

Do you point out that your friendship with this person has not yet developed beyond the initial introductory phases and advise her to make such confessions in a clinical setting, as this person clearly has issues with the basic function and understanding of relationship development?

I am perplexed to find that many Christians seem to think that faith and common sense are diametrically opposed. As Christians we are autonomous creatures, accountable before God and therefore responsible for our actions, and yet bound to the spiritual realm of unseen things that require faith. Not enough faith and we end up relying on our own skills, wisdom and knowledge. Not enough common sense and we become leaves on the wind being blown about by by anything that seems to offer a spiritual gust.

What gets me, is how many people fall under this second category and while being blown about to and fro by every whim of spirituality, they judge others for not having enough faith. The problem is, without common sense, a person led by faith alone, has no system of checks and balances to determine whether their next whim of spiritual leading is of God, of men, or of Satan. They only look for what feels spiritual, and what seems to be faith filled or inspiring. The problem is, Satan is also a spiritual being, and we who live in the physical and the spiritual often confuse the two and ascribe spiritual labels to the emotional chemical fluxes we find being created by our endorphins and anxieties.

Many movements have been led by the genuine intent to be led by the Spirit, but without the checks and balances of common sense, have turned out to be nothing more than satanic deceptions. God gave us a brain and a heart. How about we try to use them both?

It is amazing how people’s misunderstanding of grace will lead to very incorrect interpretations of scripture, and how misunderstandings of scripture will lead to incorrect views of grace. Such misunderstandings lead to the development of a cheap grace that is an excuse for improper behaviors or addictions. Cheap grace causes people to become users of God and to interpret scripture in narcissistic ways that support, enable or excuse their habits, helping to make them feel good about themselves without ever taking true responsibility and ownership of their addictions. True repentance never takes place and the addiction ceases to be a sin, but rather a mistake. Just as someone might say to spilling a drink “oops, my bad”, the believer of cheap grace says “oops, my bad” at the reoccurrence of their addiction.

One such example might be the misuse of the following scripture: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

This scripture means that there is no temptation that will afflict a person that is so utterly new and unknown that no other person has ever experienced it, or that God cannot provide a way out of it. This verse highlights God’s faithfulness to provide ways out of temptation. This verse shows us that the sins we suffer are common, meaning known and tolerable. You cannot be tempted by a sin so unique to only you, that there is no way out. There will be someone around who having suffered the same temptation can help you through the temptation, however the emphasis on this verse is on the second half of the verse, pointing us to God’s faithfulness to guide us through the temptation.

The cheap grace understanding of this verse, in order to normalize and excuse the addiction, focuses on the first half of the verse and seems to ignore the second half. The focus is on the word uncommon, and understands it to mean that the addiction the person suffers from is something every person suffers. The cheap grace understanding wants to believe that ever person suffers the same lack of control and addiction, in order to normalize it and excuse it as being minimal and even inconsequential. It takes a horrible and ugly problem and projects it onto all people so that person can feel better about his or herself. The sin becomes minimalized in their mind to the level of a simple mistake made by all, from which they only need to say “I’m sorry”’ and all is made better until the next time they need to say “oops, my bad.”

Cheap grace normalizes even the worst of addictions, causing the misled believer to think none too much about it, believing that all people suffer the same addiction, and decreasing the amount of guilt and need for self-control or repentance from such an affliction. Cheap grace decreases the urgency to turn from such a sin, while at the same time making the believer the controller of God. Whenever they sin all they have to do is ask God for forgiveness and in their understanding, God will and even has to give it. The God of cheap grace is a vending machine for forgiveness of their addictions.